Book Review: THE TOMORROW SERIES

I have recently read the entire 'Tomorrow' series by John Marsden. This series consists of seven books:

1. Tomorrow, When the War Began
2. The Dead of Night
3. A Killing Frost
4. Darkness, Be My Friend
5. Burning For Revenge
6. The Night is for Hunting
7. The Other Side of Dawn

This series is about a group of Australian teenagers written from the point of view of a girl named Ellie, who is among the group. One summer they decide to go camping out in the bush for a few days without any parents. They ask their parents for permission and they say that they can go. So while all of their families are at the Showground for a fair/carnival of some sorts, the teens pack their bags into the Landrover and drive into the bush headed for a basin called Hell, where an old Hermit was said to have lived in a cabin that he built.

But while they are away the unthinkable happens. When they go back to their houses from their innocent camping trip, they find that their houses are abandoned. Their families are nowhere to be found. Many of Ellie's dogs are dead, and it appears that no one has fed them for a few days.

It turns out that they are in the middle of a war zone. Their country has been invaded and their families are being held at the Showground. During the course of this series the teenagers have to fight their way through a terrible war, experiencing loss, love, hatred, betrayal, exhaustion, misery, shock, and surprisingly, happiness. As they fight for their families and friends they become closer as a group (and sometimes farther apart). Will they win the war??? Will they ever be able to see their friends and families again??? Will they even survive??? The only way to find out is to read this suspenseful, action-packed series.

I have to say, this series really surprised me. When I first realized that there were seven books in the series, I was like, Great, now I have to sit through reading all of them just to find out if they survive. But after the first book, I found that I had started to care and feel for the characters, and I just had to find out what happened to them. John Marsden does a great job at narrating the book from a teenage girl's point of view, and you really get to know each and every character. This series did drag on during some parts, but for the most part it was very suspenseful and kept my interest almost the entire way through.

There were a few things that I didn't like about it, though. First, the teenagers plan tons of crazy things they could do to sabotage the people invading their country. This is totally unrealistic, because when you think about it, how can a small group of teenagers bomb an entire bridge over a highway by themselves? How can they go what seems to be days and days without food and water, and without stopping to take a rest? Some of it was just a bit too unrealistic for me. I'm not saying that they didn't suffer, because they definitely did. I'm just saying that in real life I doubt they could have pulled half of that stuff off without a scratch on them. But, I guess why they call it fiction.

If you have a weak stomach when it comes to things gory and gruesome, then this series may not be for you. The teens do acquire many injuries and Ellie writes about them with a good amount of detail. I'm not so good with that kind of stuff and I was fine, but I'm just giving you a heads up.

Also, it seemed as though the series was kind of split in half. When I finished reading the third book, I was like, Oh, that's kind of a crappy ending to the series. I didn't realize that it went on for four more books. If you really wanted to, you could probably just stop reading the series at book three and feel satisfied. I didn't, but some of you probably could.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) I'm going to give this entire series a 4 out of 5 smileys. Here is how it breaks down book by book:

• Tomorrow, When the War Began : :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) I give this one a 5 out of 5 smileys. It was a great start to the series!
• The Dead of Night : :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys.
• A Killing Frost : :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys.
• Darkness, Be My Friend : :0) :0) :0) 3 out of 5 smileys. I was kind of disappointed with this one. It seemed like it was just dragging on too much.
• Burning For Revenge : :0) :0) :0) 3 out of 5 smileys. Same with the one before it. To me, it was very slow.
• The Night is for Hunting : :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys. This one was a big improvement compared to the fourth and fifth books in this series.
• The Other Side of Dawn : :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys. This was an okay end to the series.

Would I recommend it to a friend? : Yes, if he/she was not afraid to read a very long series. This would be a great read for both boys and girls, because it has a lot of action but it also has some romance.

Yours,
Aceba